Four leaders in the newly established Pediatric Pandemic Network–Rachel Charney, MD, Sarita Chung, MD, Mark X. Cicero, MD, and Brent D. Kaziny, MD–were inducted as members of the National Advisory Committee on Children and Disasters (NACCD) during the committee’s inaugural public meeting on Feb. 17. The NACCD is a federal advisory committee that provides advice and guidance to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and to the HHS Secretary.
The HHS secretary appointed 13 individuals with a range of related expertise, particularly pediatric emergency medicine and disaster preparedness, planning, response, and recovery. The inaugural public meeting included the swearing-in and induction of its new members, welcoming remarks from Dawn O’Connell, JD, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, presentations on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, and overviews of two related federally funded efforts to improve care for children in disasters and emergencies: ASPR’s Pediatric Disaster Centers of Excellence and the Pediatric Pandemic Network.
The Pediatric Pandemic Network, which was established in 2021, aims to empower health care systems and communities across the nation to provide high-quality, equitable care to children every day and in crises. The network comprises five children’s hospitals or “hub sites,” as well as the Pediatric Disaster Centers of Excellence, and the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Innovation and Improvement Center (EIIC).
Rachel Charney, MD
Rachel Charney, MD, is a professor at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and practicing pediatric emergency physician at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. She serves at both institutions in the role of Medical Director of Disaster Preparedness with particular expertise in family reunification and healthcare disaster operations. She is active in local, state and regional healthcare and educational coalitions developing community-focused disaster response capabilities. In addition, she is one of the five hub hospital site leaders of the Pediatric Pandemic Network.
Sarita Chung, MD
Sarita Chung, MD, is the Director of Disaster Preparedness in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School. She currently serves as vice-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Council on Children and Disaster and is a Co-Lead for EIIC Disaster domain as well as the Massachusetts EMSC Advisory Council Chair. Chung previously served on the FEMA National Advisory Council and was the principal investigator of an EMSC Targeted Issues grant to develop a novel image-based family reunification system, which led to the development of the AAP Family Reunification Following Disasters: A Planning Tool for Health Care Facilities. Chung also is the lead author on the AAP policy statement Chemical-Biological Terrorism and Its Impact on Children.
Mark X. Cicero, MD
Mark X. Cicero, MD, is the Director of Pediatric Disaster Preparedness for the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital and has over 15 years of experience as a disaster educator and researcher. He has served as a medical officer for the CT-1 DMAT team for over a decade and has guided responses to mass casualty events, hurricanes and two pandemics. He is a graduate of the Academic Pediatric Association Educational Scholars Program, and has developed disaster and EMS curricula used worldwide. Within EMSC, he serves as an expert for disaster preparedness and pediatric EMS preparedness, care, education and improvement and has conducted pediatric emergency and disaster research through two EMSC Targeted Issues grants. In the Pediatric Pandemic Network, he leads the Everyday Readiness Education Committee. Cicero is former chair of the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) Pediatrics Committee, where he led efforts to improve pediatric medication dosing safety and EMS pandemic response. He serves as the NAEMSP liaison to COPEM, and as an executive member of the National Pediatric Disaster Coalition. Cicero’s previous federal service includes membership on the ASPR National Biodefense Science Board.
Brent D. Kaziny, MD
Brent D. Kaziny is a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Texas Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his medical degree at the University of Texas-Houston, School of Medicine, and started his pediatric intern year at Tulane University, where he received the Hurricane Katrina Code Grey Hero Award for his efforts caring for patients and assisting with the evacuation of Tulane Hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His experience during Hurricane Katrina ignited his interest in pediatric disaster preparedness. After his intern year, he transferred to Baylor College of Medicine, where he completed his residency in general pediatrics, then completed his fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He has served as a subject matter expert on the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Services curriculum development team for FEMA’s Pediatric Disaster Response and Emergency Preparedness Course and continues to serve as the medical director for this course teaching it across the country. On a national level he serves as a co-lead for the Disaster Domain for the EIIC and is on the Executive Core of the Pediatric Pandemic Network. At Texas Children’s Hospital he serves as the Medical Director of Emergency Management and has been integrally involved in their response to all hazards from Hurricane Harvey to the current COVID pandemic.
To learn more about the NACCD, visit its webpage.